I want you to open your Bibles
with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 27. I'm going to read
part of three verses, beginning with verse 33 through verse 36. That's Matthew 27, verse 33 through
36. The title of the message is,
And sitting down, they watched him there. and sitting down,
they watched him there. The scripture says, when they
were come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of the
skull, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingle with gall, and
when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified
him, and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken to the prophet. And sitting down,
they watched him there. Now God the Father delivered
his beloved Son over into the hands of wicked men, wicked religious
leaders. And this religious crowd turned
the beloved Son of God over to Herod, And Herod sent him to
Pilate, and Pilate put him into the hands of the Roman soldiers. And you've read the scripture,
how that they mocked him and how they ridiculed him, how they
took his own robe off from him and put a mocking scarlet robe
over his shoulders, shoulders that they had beaten and scurried.
And then one of them planted a crown of thorns and pressed
it down into his brow. And then they put a reed in his
hand and sat him on a mock throne, and they began to bow the knee,
crying, Hail, Jesus, King of the Jews. And one of them said,
He's a prophet, and walked up and slapped him and said, Prophesy,
if you're a prophet, tell us what's the name of the man who
slapped you. And they plucked out his beard.
They just spent a long time mocking and ridiculing and causing the
Son of God to suffer at their hands. And finally, the soldiers
brought him out into Pilate's hall, and there they had a trial
of a sort, and the crowd insisted that he be crucified. And they
took him to this place called Golgotha, stripped him of his
clothes, and nailed him to a cross to die between two thieves. And
for a long time the people walked around the cross and they taunted
the Son of God and they spat upon him. And one of them cried,
he trusted in God, let's see if God will have him now. Another
one said, if you be the Son of God, come down from the cross
and we'll believe on you. Others said he saved others,
himself he cannot save. And even the thieves who were
crucified with him, mocked him, and said, If you are the Son
of God, save yourself and save us. And our Lord cried, I thirst. And the scripture says they took
a reed and they put vinegar and gall on it, evidently on some
sort of sponge, and they held it up to his mouth, and he would
not drink. They gave him vinegar to drink,
mingle with gall, and he would not drink. And sitting down,
they watched him there. And sitting down, they watched
him there. Now, I challenge you, I challenge
you this morning, in your heart and in your mind, in your imagination,
I challenge you to sit down with me before the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and let's consider some things. Now, these people
who had so cruelly nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, they had
been witnesses of some of the things that he had done, and
they'd certainly been witnesses of the things he said while hanging
on that cross. One of the first things he said
as he looked over this crowd of mocking people, this crowd
of wicked people that had nailed him to the tree. He said, Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. And
then he noticed Mary, the woman God used to bring him into the
world, standing near his cross, and the disciple whom he loved,
which was John. He said, Woman, behold thy son,
son, behold thy mother. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
cried out first, and then one of the thieves said, Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And the master said,
Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And then bearing the
awful burden and weight and guilt and shame and filth of our sins,
he cried out, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? And they heard
all of this. They witnessed all of this. And
it had to go through their mind. This question had to go through
their mind. No matter how blinded they were
with hatred, no matter how blinded they were by their religious
tradition, no matter how blinded they were by their superstition
and ceremony, no matter how much they despised him, it had to
go through their minds while they were sitting there on the
ground watching him on that cross. It had to go through their minds,
this question, who is this man? Who is this man? Now the angels
said, when they announced his birth, he's Jesus, the Son of
God. That's right, they told Mary,
you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. And then these same angels told
the shepherds on the Judean hillside that he's Christ the Lord. And
the Heavenly Father said of him, this is my beloved Son, in whom
I'm well pleased. And they had heard him say on
many occasions, I and my Father are one. He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. The works that I do are not my
works, but the works of him that sent me. The words that I speak
are not my words, but the words of him that sent me. Who is this
man? And another question that we
just have to consider as we sit and watch him there, sitting
down, after they've spent their time jeering and mocking and
railing upon him, They grew weary of it, and they sat down and
just watched him. And this had to go through their minds. Why
did he come into this world? If he's who he says he is, why
did he come into this world? Now, we know he came. The Scripture
says, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Well, Paul said he came to save
sinners, of whom I am the chief." He said himself he came to seek
and to save the lost. But why, as we sit and watch
him there, why did he come into this world? And why, even if
he came into this world to save sinners, why did he have to die
on a cross? Why did he have to die? He could
have prevented it. He said, No man taketh my life
from me. I lay it down. I lay it down
that I might take it up again. Isaiah said it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. If there had been some other
way of salvation, Christ would have never died on that cross.
This is the way God decreed to save sinners. This is the way
God's justice demands that sinners be saved, that there be a sacrifice
and a substitute and a sin offering. There has to be. The law has
to be honored. Justice must be satisfied. Why
did he die on that cross? He died that he might redeem
his own. from their sin. Now, in Lamentations 1, verse
12, this is the Lord speaking through the prophet, Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? They pass by and shoot out their
lips and they laugh and they mock and they say, He trusted
in God, let's see if God will have him. If you be the Son of
God, come down from the cross and we'll believe on you. Is
it nothing to you? All ye that pass by, behold and see, is there
any sorrow like unto my sorrow? Is there any sorrow like unto
my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce judgment and his fierce anger?" Sit down,
if you've got time, if you're not in too big a hurry, sit down
and watch him there, and answer some questions. Who is this man?
Why did he come into this world? Why did he die on that cross?
The centurion came to this conclusion when it was all over. Surely
this man was the Son of God. That's the conclusion he came
to. I hope you'll come to that delightful conclusion when I
finish the message today. Sit down and watch him there.
What is it to you? What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? What relationship do you have
with him? What does his death mean to you?
What has it accomplished for you, if anything? I can tell
you this. I can give you this clue. I can give you this clue,
and it's the most important clue. Everything in the Bible, everything
in the Bible before Calvary, before Golgotha points to that
man on that cross. Everything, everything in the
Bible, from Genesis 1-1 to Malachi 3, the last verse in the Old
Testament, everything in the Old Testament, everything in
the Old Testament scriptures points to that man on that cross.
And everything in the New Testament scriptures, everything after
Calvary points back to that man on the cross. Who is that man?
Why did that man die on the trade? Where is that man now? What interest,
if any, do I have in him or in this event or in that blood that
was shed? He's no ordinary man. Now, this
is too important for you to leave it up to some preacher to settle
the matter for you. This is too important for you
to leave it up to some denominational affiliation or association. This
is too important for you to leave it up to some indifferent, careless
profession or decision which you made a long time ago, the
Apostle Paul. Summed it all up in this statement,
Galatians chapter 6, God forbid that I should glory or find any
delight or any joy, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. And the great Bishop J.C. Ryle,
one of the greatest preachers and writers who ever lived, made
this statement in summing up his own personal testimony. He
said, I venture the whole of my salvation and the whole of
my relationship with God Almighty on Jesus Christ and him crucified. I cast loose entirely and completely
from any other person, any other refuge, or any other hope. I
do not rest partly on Christ crucified and partly on my work. In the matter of my sole salvation,
Christ Jesus is all and in all from beginning to end. He is
the author and finisher of my faith. With heaven before me,
Christ my doer. With hell beneath me, Christ
my deliverer. With the law against me, Christ
my righteousness. Justice claim on me, Christ Jesus
my satisfaction. with death awaiting me, but Christ
to remove the sting. The grave is my destiny, but
Christ my victory. Eternity my long home, but Jesus
Christ my glory." This is where it's all decided. It's not decided
at an altar. It's decided at God's altar,
Golgotha's Hill. It's not decided at a mourner's
bench. It's not decided at the front of a church in a baptismal
pool or before a sacramental table. It's all decided at the
cross. A man's attitude toward the Christ
of the cross determines his eternal destiny, whether to wrath or
to life. I insist, my friend, I insist
that you sit down and watch him there. I insist that you determine
in your heart your attitude toward Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm not
asking what you think of me, or what you think of my doctrine,
or what you think of my personality, or what you think of this program.
I'm asking you what you think of Jesus Christ. What do you
see in the cross? Well, I'm going to give you seven
things that I see in the cross. I'm going to join that crowd,
and sitting down, I'm going to watch him there. And I'm going
to come to seven conclusions that I believe are Spirit-led.
and Spirit taught. Number one, as I sit and watch
him there, I see this, I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The Father's hand is in it all. The Father's hand is in it all. This is quite clear from the
scriptures. His death was no accident. It pleased the Lord
to bruise him. That's what it says. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. In Acts 2.23, the Apostle Peter,
describing this death on Calvary says, him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain. You crucified him. You
slew him on a tree. But you did what God determined
before to be done, in his eternal counsel and in his full ordination
and in his eternal purpose. In Acts 4, 27 and 28, the scripture
says of a truth, it's a fact, it's the record, against the
Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate. These men weren't friends until
they had a common enemy, Jesus Christ. with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel, and they certainly were not friends until
they had a common enemy. But Herod and Pontius Pilate,
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, gathered together to
do what they wanted to do, what they planned to do, what their
wicked hearts devised to do, but they did what God determined
before to be done. Christ said, I am come not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I lose nothing. Yes, God gave the Son of people,
and appointed the Son their surety, and gave over into his hands
their full redemption. And Christ came down here and
paid the price. Christ was a Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. just as his elect were chosen
in him before the world began. I see that the Father planned
it all. Secondly, as I sit and watch
him there, I see the scriptures fulfilled. Did you ever read
in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 3, Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures? He was buried and rose again
according to the scriptures. What scriptures? We're talking
about the Old Testament scriptures. The Old Testament scriptures,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges,
all of these scriptures, Psalm, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Daniel, that's the scriptures we're talking about. Christ died
for our sins, was buried and rose again and ascended to the
right hand of God, according to the scriptures. You see, the
Old Testament Scriptures is Christ, Christ in picture, Christ in
promise, and Christ in prophecy. And the New Testament Scriptures
is Christ, Christ revealed in his person. When you go to the
Mount of Transfiguration, and you see the Lord Jesus Christ
there, surrounded by the awesome glory of God, and on either side
of him is Moses and Elijah. Moses represented the law, Elijah
the prophet. the law and the prophets, talking
to Christ about what? What did they talk about? Luke
tells us. He said they talked with him about his death in Jerusalem. That's what they talked about.
That's what Moses wrote about. Moses wrote of me, he said. That's
what Elijah preached about. That's what Abraham saw when
he saw Christ's death. Do you understand Abel's offering?
As you see Abel bringing the blood, the lamb, putting it on
the altar, roasting it with fire, shedding its blood, and God had
respect for his offering. Here's his brother over here
with the fruit of the field and the fruit of his own hands. God
had respect for Abel's lamb. That's Christ, the Lamb of God.
That's a picture of Christ. Do you understand the Passover
lamb in Egypt, when God said the firstborn son would die in
every home, even of the cattle on the hillside, except where
the blood was put on the door? And he said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And our Lord had the people of Israel observe
that Passover feast every year until Christ came, who is our
Passover, and who died for our sins and shed his blood. Do you
understand the rock that was smitten in the wilderness? When
Moses, when the people were thirsty, dying of thirst, and Moses smoked
the rock, smitten of God, and from the rock flowed the living,
thirst-quenching, cruel, clear stream of water, that rock is
Christ. Do you understand the brazen
serpent lifted up in the wilderness, the people bitten by the fiery
serpents, and Moses made a serpent of brass, just like the one that
had bitten the people? Christ came down here in the
likeness of sinful flesh, That's our problem, sinful flesh. Christ
was made in the likeness of sinful flesh and lifted up on a cross,
and there died, and all who looked to him, just like all who looked
to Moses' brazen serpent lip. Do you understand the tabernacle
in the wilderness that was divided into two parts, the holy of holies
and the holy place, separated by a veil? And when a high priest
once a year would go under that veil into the holy of holies,
he would take the blood of a lamb, and put it on the mercy seat,
which covered the broken law of God. And that blood covered
their sins and covered their iniquities. And how the blood
of Christ, who is our great high priest, who entered not the holy
place made with hands, but in the heaven itself, in the presence
of God, on the mercy seat of glory, put not the blood of a
lamb, but his own precious blood, and cleansed our sins. I see the scriptures fulfilled
in his death. I see something else. I see the
everlasting covenant fulfilled. God's a covenant God. He made
a covenant with Adam, Adam broke it. He made a covenant with Abraham,
a covenant with Moses, a covenant with Noah, a covenant with David. God's a covenant God. He keeps
his covenant. But prior to all covenants, there's
an everlasting covenant. And this everlasting covenant
is with his Son, Jesus Christ. For Christ, according to Hebrews
7.22, is the surety of an everlasting covenant. In Hebrews 13.20, his
blood is the blood of an everlasting covenant. In Hebrews 8.6, he's
the mediator of an everlasting covenant. This everlasting covenant
of grace, call it what you will, but that's what Scripture calls
it, eternal covenant. The Father's purpose to save
a people, And the Son assumed the responsibility of purchasing
those people with his own blood and the Holy Spirit of applying
that blessing. And I see it fulfilled on that
cross. I see the purchase made. I cry with Job, deliver him from
going down into the pit. I found the ransom. I found the
ransom. I found it at Calvary. And then
I see in the fourth place the Savior's great love. I know for
God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son. Nobody
said Christ came down here to get God in the notion of saving
sinners. I beg your pardon. Christ came because God was in
the notion. He came not to enable God to
love men, but because God did love men. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was a willing substitute. He said, no man takes my life
from me. Having loved his own, he loved them to the end, even
the death on the cross. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
I know my sheep. I love my sheep. I lay down my
life for my sheep. Love sent my Savior to die in
my stead, why should he love me so? Meekly to Calvary's cross
he was led, why should he love me so? Nails pierced his hands
and his feet in my place, nothing withholding my sin to erase,
why should he love me so? I see something else in that
cross. I see not only the Savior's great
love, but I see God's great wrath against sinners. Now you take
a good look at that cross and you answer the question, who's
on that cross? That's God's Son. And you ask
yourself this question, will God punish sin? Who did you say
was on the cross? God's Son being punished for
sin. Not his own, he knew no sin,
but the sins of those whom he represented. Our Lord was punished
on that cross. He suffered and died on that
cross under the weight of my sin. He was wounded from my transgression. He was bruised from my iniquities.
The chastisement of my peace was upon him by his strife. I'm
healed. And you want to answer this question,
will God punish sin? I'll take you to Calvary. I won't
just take you to the days of the flood or the days outside
the Garden of Eden or the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. I'll take
you to Calvary. And I say, if God spared not
his own son, who was bearing sins in the place of others,
whose sins were imputed unto him, who were never committed
by him, but imputed unto him, For somebody else's sake, I say
this to you, there shouldn't be any doubt in your mind that
God will settle the score with all men. God will punish sin. The soul that sinned shall surely
die. That's what the Scripture says.
Sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. But I see something
else as I sit there and watch him. I see his love for sinners. I see the wrath of God against
sin. But I see something else. I see
that the debt's been fully paid and fully satisfied, and what
a sufficient payment has been made. The Apostle Paul came to
this conclusion. He said, If God be for us in
substitution, in satisfaction, if God be for me in everlasting
mercy, who can be against me? Can you find any sufficient enemy?
Can you find any conquering enemy? Can you find any powerful enemy
that can overcome God? If he's for me, who can be against
me? If he's for me. And then he says,
who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. You know, sometimes people will
commit a crime, or at least having been accused of committing a
crime, will go to court and find them guilty, and they'll appeal.
They'll appeal to the next court. And they'll find him guilty,
and then they'll appeal to the state Supreme Court, and they'll find
him guilty, and they'll say, I'll take it all the way to the
Supreme Court. Well, let me tell you, if the
Supreme Court overrules it, he's not guilty. And my case has been
taken all the way to the highest court of the universe. God Almighty
has justified me. God Almighty has acquitted me.
God Almighty has pardoned me. God Almighty has justified me.
Who can lay anything to my charge?" Going down the line, all these
smaller courts have nothing more to say. I've been cleared in
the court of heaven, and that's where the business is transacted.
That's the final say. I see the ransom paid. Who can
lay anything to our charge? Who can condemn us? Christ died,
yea, rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who intercedes for us. Let's stick around there a little
while longer. Let's don't leave yet. Let's watch him there. And I'll tell you, I learned
some things. I learned how to. How to. Don't buy a book and
try to learn how to love or how to give or how to forgive or
how to show mercy. Come to Calvary. You'll learn
it better there. I sit down and watch him there,
and I learn how to love. Greater love hath no man than
this. He lay down his life for his friends, for his enemies.
We were enemies when Christ died for us. Love one another, he
said, as I love you. So you learn to love at Calvary.
Tell you something else, you learn how to forgive at Calvary.
If you sit there long enough and hear him praying through
his parched, broken lips, You hear him praying through the
blood streaming down his face. You hear him looking at that
crowd through eyes that were just slit from having been beaten
by their own fists and said, Father, forgive them. They don't
know what to do. You learn how to forgive. You
learn how to give, too. Christ gave himself. He gave
himself. We give a few trinkets, but he
gave himself. So you learn all the graces and
all the fruit and the blessings of humility. He who was not robbed
of the equal with God, became of no reputation, died even the
death of a cross. You learn it all at Calvary.
Sit down a while and watch it.